Take Action: An Example of What can Happen When you do

Shortly after I arrived back in Edmonton I was blessed with the opportunity to live at Tracy’s house.

Tracy is a paraplegic because of an accident two years ago. He’s struggling financially because of lack of government funding. What’s remarkable about Tracy is that he’s the King of paying it forward, but when he needed help he couldn’t get it. Thankfully, he keeps fighting.

After hearing him talk about his situation I thought of ways I could help. He’d done everything he could think of and had run out of ideas. I decided to team up with my friend (who has lived with him since his accident). I put my writing skills to work and started a Go Fund Me campaign. She worked on promoting it to her Facebook friends and people who knew him.

I’ve been writing online for about 4 years as a content creator for various business websites and blogs;until I started this blog a few months ago.

A woman very knowledgeable about various types of funding offered to help Tracy with filling out the paperwork. She’s known him for a few years, and knows his situation but didn’t think of how she could help until the Go Fund Me campaign – and that’s not her fault it just how it works sometimes.

She’s also a Tough Albertan and won’t let his paperwork sit on someone’s desk for months.

The second is a fundraiser. She’s also planning and organizing a fundraiser for June 2017. There will be a silent auction and all ticket sales will go directly to Tracy; along with a percentage of alcohol sales. My friend will be in charge of selling tickets and I will put my writing skills to work online to draw attention to the event if I’m needed.

But at the beginning of March 2017 something else amazing happened . In the summer Tracy’s bid on a project to make an apartment building wheelchair accessible, and he got the contract. Talk about everything working out. He’s also involved with issues around Edmonton and wheelchair access.

When you Take Action it can Change the Future

This is what can happen when you take action. The action you take may not lead to what you want, but it will open doors to other opportunities. It may not happen right away either, but taking action accomplishes more than not taking action.

A few hours of our time creating and sharing the Go Fund Me campaign to save Tracy’s house and Tracy’s bid worked together to change Tracy’s future. Tracy doesn’t have to feel like a sitting duck waiting to become homeless; and he’s back being productive, which is what he wanted more than getting donations.

It doesn’t matter what our circumstances are, we can always improve it by taking action. Before his accident Tracy found success in his carpentry business and his life was going great. After a freak accident he was told he’d never walk again. His determination drove him to prove them wrong and he did walk again with support.

After getting out of the hospital he found out he didn’t qualify for government funding except CPP, which barely covered his mortgage. His mortgage insurance coverage only lasted two years. He was on the verge of being homeless. But that didn’t stop him from taking action and bidding on jobs in spite of his injuries.

I love freedom and knowing that we have the power to change our future. There is always something we can do, and that’s what keeps me going.

Categories

FYI

Koralee Phillips is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com.